Feb 27 2025 23 mins 14
What are the industrial crown jewels of the future? Most of us can name two of them right away: Chips that power the brains behind everything, including AI. And batteries or energy storage systems. Batteries power not only EVs but have a much wider application in delivering energy to factories and countless military applications. There is a third one that might be just as crucial: magnets. Magnets are produced with materials derived from the processing of rare earths. Today, China has an abundance of rare earths. More importantly, China has a near monopoly on the processing of those rare earths. This leaves America and the West highly vulnerable. That's where an American company called Evolution comes in - their mission is to build complete processing capabilities in America for American industry. Joining me today to talk about the rare earth processing and magnet challenge is Dean Evans, co-founder at Evolution. They are already operating in Missouri and have sister companies in Korea. What's the central challenge and how soon will America be able to process rare earths and build its own magnets at scale?
